


Hospital

by DeetDootDiz



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hospital, Tagging as I go, blanket fort, emergencies, everyone's having a bad time, papyrus is in a bad mood, puzzles make everything a little bit better, sans needs to up his nursemaid game, sans sleeps too hard, scared skellies, test of patience
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-11 17:00:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7900696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeetDootDiz/pseuds/DeetDootDiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Papyrus doesn't come home from work one night. Sans gets a distressing phone call. Lots of waiting and even more worrying.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Papyrus Is Late

“stupid weatherman. you have one job and you manage to be this bad at it?” Sans grumbled sourly, glaring up at the overcast sky. The forecast had said the clouds would clear up by nightfall, and he had been looking forward to a night of stargazing with his telescope. He stood in the backyard beside the equipment in question, letting out a sigh of defeat. Everything had been set up just in case the wind managed to blow the remaining clouds away. The telescope was adjusted and angled just right, and his new astronomy book was open on the grass near his feet, turned to a page of constellations that should be visible tonight. He had been waiting for quite some time though, and it was obvious now that he would be seeing no stars tonight.

“welp, might as well pack it up,” he muttered. The breeze picked up enough to rustle loudly through the tree in their yard, several pages of his book flipping over. He closed the book and tucked it under his arm, hoisting the telescope up over his shoulder. The trek back into the house and up the stairs with such a cumbersome load did not sound appealing. Not with his mood as dampened as it was now, anyway. Instead, he simply closed his eyes, and vanished from the expanse of the backyard. 

An instant later, he was upstairs in his bedroom, letting out another disappointed sigh as he set down the heavy telescope against the wall. “what a fuckin’ waste...“ He was really annoyed, especially because if he’d known it was going to be another cloudy night, he would have just slept on the couch while Papyrus cooked dinner or something. 

That thought diverted his grumpy mood, realizing Papyrus had never come to find him when he got home from work. “he must’ve gotten started cooking right away. welp, might as well go see what he’s planning for tonight.”  With that, Sans opened his bedroom door and shuffled downstairs.

“bro? you home?” 

He was answered with complete silence through the house. 

“huh... that’s weird. thought he’d be here by now…”  Sans paused in the living room, fingers drumming on the back of the couch, trying to quell the odd unease he felt building in his stomach. He rounded the corner into the kitchen to look at the clock above the stove and stopped abruptly. “what the hell? it’s  _ this _ late already?” he balked, reading the display that told him it was nearly ten-thirty. Papyrus never came home later than eight o’clock, and even that was rare. How had he lost track of time so badly? He supposed he had just been so distracted with his telescope and waiting out the weather that he didn’t realize how much time had passed, especially since he had never been interrupted by his brother’s return.

Sans felt a spike of concern shooting through him. Old, familiar fear. That sick feeling he had suffered through countless,  _ countless _ times when one of the kid’s runs was going the worst possible way. It had been years since the last reset, and Sans hadn’t felt this in a very long time. 

_ where is my brother?? _

His hands flew to the pockets of his hoodie, which were empty. He growled, “ _ where the fuck is my phone?”  _  Racing back up the stairs, he simultaneously forced himself through the breathing exercises he had learned to help him calm down after a bad nightmare or a panic attack brought on by some moment of  déjà vu. 

“chill out, he probably had to work late. or something. could be anything. calm down, calm down, he’s fine, calm down.” 

He burst back into his bedroom, eyes scanning the usual mess and finding his forgotten cell phone on the bed among the heap of blankets. Snatching it up, he turned the screen on. A flash of relief washed through him, but was just as quickly masked by more panic. He had a missed text from Papyrus.

 

**coolest bro: I’M LEAVING WORK NOW! IT’S BEEN ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DAY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND I CANNOT WAIT TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT!**

 

Sans felt the sickness of worry building. The text was sent almost four hours ago. Papyrus would have been on time to get home by eight, just like any other night. His fingers tapped quickly on the screen to open the list of contacts, preparing the call Papyrus’ phone. Just then, the phone rang in his hand, the sound startling him so badly that he nearly dropped the device. 

Oh thank god. It was Papyrus. Sans exhaled in a rush and was already forcing himself into better composure so as not to alert his brother to the state of panic he had worked himself up into. 

“hey bro,” he answered, his voice sounding strained. “heh, you plannin’ on making me cook for myself tonight, or what?” He tried to lighten up his own mood, leaning against his desk as he spoke, stuffing his free hand into his pocket to stop its shaking.

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. 

“Good evening. Am I speaking with… Sans?” came a slightly hesitant voice. Definitely a man, and definitely  _ not _ Papyrus. 

Sans was frozen, wild confusion on his face. He pulled the phone away to glance at the display again, just to verify it had actually been Papyrus’ phone that was calling him. It was. 

“uh... yeah. who are you?”

The man on the other line cleared his throat. “Good evening, Sans. My name is Mike. I’m an EMT with Liberty Hospital----”

Sans felt his body go numb.

“There’s been a car accident. I’m calling from an ambulance---”

Nausea swirled, Sans’ breathing becoming shallow and fast as he listened through ears ringing with too-high panic. He could barely keep his grip on the phone and leaned heavily on the desk for support. 

“We have Papyrus with us and are rushing him to Liberty Hospital right now. Your number was his most recent contact. Are yo--”

“is he okay??” Sans blurted out, cutting the man off. 

Another pause. “It’s difficult to be certain yet. He’s unconscious, but he will be rushed straight into the emergency room when we arrive at the hospital.”

“i’ll meet you there. you--  _ you keep him alive, you hear me? _ ” The warning was shot out in a dark tone through Sans’ clenching teeth before he hung up. Stuffing the phone into his pocket, he zipped around his room, cramming his feet into his only pair of shoes. His thoughts were all over the place. A car accident? Papyrus was unconscious. He had no idea how hurt he was beyond that. Sans clutched his shirt over his chest, struggling in vain to keep himself from falling apart completely. He hurried down the stairs again, muttering out loud nonstop.

“gotta get to the hospital. liberty... right, liberty hospital… gotta… i…” It occurred to him that he had no idea where the hospital was. He pulled his phone back out, absently wiping a shaking hand across his eyes, realizing there were already tears spilling down his cheekbones. He stopped pacing long enough to do a quick search for the address of the hospital on his phone, at least having enough of his senses left to solve his current problem. If he didn’t know where he was going at all, he couldn’t teleport there. He at least needed a general idea. The results came up, and he checked the address and the location on the map. 

“got it, got it. i’m comin’, papyrus.” he whispered, gripping his phone tightly and suddenly vanishing. 

  
  
  


The initial moment of awareness brought only blank thoughts and numb senses. Papyrus was merely conscious, but not yet conscious  _ of _ anything. His mind was completely disconnected from anything, as if he were floating through a thick fog. Finally, he was able to structure enough of a dim thought to realize that he was completely confused. 

Seconds ticked by, and Papyrus’ mind functioned sluggishly. Why was it so dark? He couldn’t tell if his eyes were closed. Where was he? He couldn’t immediately recall when he had fallen asleep, or where. He could tell this wasn’t his racecar bed at home. He became vaguely aware of an odd stillness around him. This feeling spurred on his confusion, and with his confusion he began to feel nervous. 

And then he tried to move for the first time. The instant he shifted, ever so slightly, all of his confusion was replaced with pain,  _ pain,  _ **_pain._ **

It was a degree of agony so shocking and abrupt that he heard himself let out a sound somewhere between a whimper and a cry. Under normal circumstances, he would have cringed at what an uncool noise it was, but right now he couldn’t spare it a thought.

Papyrus heard a flurry of movement around him and finally managed to force his eyes open. He couldn’t think. There was still pain, blocking out all thought beyond wild confusion and now panic.  _ Why did he hurt like this? What was going on?  _ He suddenly felt his hand grasped in someone’s grip, but he couldn’t see who it was. The room itself was very dimly lit, and he was already drifting off again, hearing his own tearful whimpers as though he were not in control of his voice. 

_ “papyrus…” _

He wanted to speak, to ask what was happening to him.

“ _ \--hear me?” _

His focus was fading already and he couldn’t summon the will to respond at all. His eyes slid closed again as he fell back into the restless abyss of sleep.

  
  
  


Sans stared hard at his brother, clutching his hand and willing him to return the grip. “bro…?” Silence filled the room as he waited for a response, for  _ anything _ .  Nothing happened. He bent his head forward, holding Papyrus’ hand to his forehead, almost in a gesture of prayer. 

“c...c’mon, cool guy. i had you there for a second…” He could feel tears welling in his eyes, and he didn’t care that there were nurses in the room right now seeing it. It had been three days since he had received the call. Three days since he had shown up at the hospital even before the ambulance had arrived. 

Three days of waiting, and this was the first sign of Papyrus waking up. Sans had been devastated at the sight of his brother at first, having not been prepared for the extent of his injuries. From the moment the medical staff had assigned a room to Papyrus and brought him in from the emergency room, Sans had not gone anywhere else. He swore he would be right there for whenever the moment came that his brother woke up. 

“what happened? why isn’t he awake yet? have you guys really done everything you can do here?” Sans asked the nurse that had come into the room when Papyrus has started to wake up. His voice was not kind, affected greatly by his worry and the enormous disappointment of his brother waking up for all of four seconds, only to pass out again right away. Somewhere in him, he knew he was being more rude than he should be, and that if circumstances were different, Papyrus would scold him for such horrible manners. 

The nurse looked at him sympathetically. Despite Sans’ abrasive tone, she didn’t take it personally. She dealt with emotional family members on a daily basis. “I know this is difficult. I promise you everyone here is doing all we can to help your brother.” She paused and glanced over at Papyrus for a moment, then looked at Sans again with a gentle expression. “Consider it a good sign that he came around just now, even though it was brief.”

Sans stared up at her for a moment, then let out a sigh and turned back to Papyrus. “yeah…” he couldn’t deny she was right, but it still just wasn’t good enough to make him feel relieved. He leaned over to lay his head on the edge of the bed, pillowing it on his free arm that wasn’t stretched out to keep holding onto Papyrus’ hand. 

The nurse cleared her throat quietly. “You know, you’re welcome to go down to the cafeteria and get something to eat. Or maybe it would be a good idea for you to try getting some sleep? If you want to go home for the night, I can let the Head Nurse of the night shift know to call you if he wakes up.” 

Sans was already shaking his head before she finished speaking, still laying on his arm and staring sleepily at his brother. He knew she was just trying to be considerate. “nah... thanks but i can’t do that. i gotta be here. he…” Sans paused, swallowing. “he’d do the same if it were me.”

“All right, I understand. Just press the call button if you need anything.” she said in the same kind tone before leaving the room. 

Once he was alone again, the sheer exhaustion that weighed on him allowed his emotions to creep up again. Papyrus had sounded so hurt in that moment that he was awake. He sounded so scared. Sans couldn’t remember hearing a cry like that since Papyrus had been a little kid. It was killing him that there was nothing he could do but sit here and wait. 

“hey bro…” he said softly, idly rubbing his thumb over Papyrus’ knuckles. “you’re gonna be fine, ok? i know it hurts but nothin’ can keep you down, cool guy. ya got me right here waitin’ for ya, too.” He felt new tears forming, already slipping down across his face. He didn’t bother moving to stop them. “and i’m not goin’ anywhere…” A tiny sob hiccupped out of him, his fingers tightening around Papyrus’ hand. “so... so you gotta wake up. ok?” He fought to keep his voice controlled, though it wavered anyway. “you know i’m no good around the house without you. and who’s gonna make me the best spaghetti in the world if you don’t do it, right? heh…” He tried to keep up the levity. It was what he always did, after all. Makes jokes, lighten the mood, pretend things weren’t as shitty as they really were. This was different though. He couldn’t keep that up for long when his little brother was in this condition and he had no idea how much longer it might be before he woke up. 

_ what if he doesn’t…. _

The dark thought flitted across his mind briefly before he forced it away. He turned his head to press his face into the blanket, muffling the harsher sob that broke free of him. He stayed like that for a moment, his shoulders shaking, his free hand coming up to clutch at the side of his skull. There was no one to keep up appearances for right now, so he let himself cry. 

“ _ please _ …”

 


	2. In Which the Damage is Assessed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good news and bad moods! Sans is relieved but Papyrus has a hard time coping with the situation.

Sans was not doing well. In fact, to say that he was anything less than an absolute wreck would be an understatement. 

He had stayed awake through the night after Papyrus’ momentary semi-consciousness, feeling hopeful that it wouldn’t be long before his brother would open his eyes again, and actually stay awake.

One by one, the hours had passed while he waited, his certainty of Papyrus’ recovery dimming gradually as the hospital room brightened with the rising sun. When the nurse came into the room at the start of the next morning shift, Sans had fought to act like things still felt promising. 

“he kinda came to last night. i bet he’s gonna wake up for real pretty soon.” He had pretended he didn’t see the glimmer of uncertainty in her eyes, but the moment had made him feel an unexpected surge of anger. How dare she look at him like that? What did she know, anyway? She didn’t know Papyrus like he did. She was just a human nurse who didn’t know anything about either of them. Her doubt set off his protective instincts with a fiery edge. 

The nurse had left the room before Sans could let his bitterness form any barbed words, and so he had returned his attention to watching his brother’s face for signs of movement, his own eyes burning with exhaustion. 

All of that had been two days ago, and now Sans felt almost like that moment of hope had merely been some cosmic joke meant to torture him. The hours rolled on towards the sixth day, and the familiar staff of the night shift was bustling around just outside the door of the room. Sans felt on the verge of losing all composure, his nerves shot and frazzled. How was this hell lasting this long? Why wasn’t Papyrus waking up? 

“hey bro, listen…” Sans spoke gently, having been pacing around the room with a sort of detached and vacant expression for the last half an hour since waking up in the chair beside the bed. He walked back around to Papyrus’ side and leaned down closer to him, carefully taking his hand as he did so. There was always the hope that if Papyrus felt him or heard him, maybe it could help him wake up. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat. The flip side of wanting to speak out loud to his comatose brother was that he had reached a point where the act of talking made him want to cry. He just wanted to hear Papyrus  _ respond _ . 

“listen, i’m gonna go grab some coffee real quick, ok? it’s just down the hall, remember? so--so don’t you worry. i’m not goin’ far. i’ll be right back.” He tilted his head down to press his forehead against Papyrus’ limp fingers for a moment, giving his hand a quick squeeze, before quietly slipping out through the door.

He didn’t like leaving the room, and at first he had refused to do so at all. It felt like a betrayal of some sort to step out into the hallway for even a moment. But even he needed to eat eventually, and he wasn’t sleeping even a fraction as much as he was used to. Therefore, he’d taken a few very brief trips down to cafeteria or to the coffee machine in the waiting room halfway down the hallway every once in awhile. He hated coming out here during the day more so than at night. The lights were all turned up too bright and there were too many people in the halls and the waiting areas during the day. Too many faces to avoid, too much noise, too much activity. The halls at night were almost relaxing. Everything was dim and quiet. It almost allowed him to feel like the stillness in his brother’s room was simply because it was a late hour, and he was just asleep like nearly every other patient in the rooms he walked passed. 

Almost.

Sans stood at the large window, looking out at the city lights illuminating the night. There were so many people out there, just going about their business, having good days and living their lives like nothing was wrong. It wasn’t fair. 

_ why him? he’s never done anything wrong to a single person in this world to deserve karma like this. this shouldn’t be happening… _

The thoughts reignited his bitterness at the injustice of it all. He rubbed his hands over his face, letting out a sigh that gave way into one shuddering sob. Immediately, he clenched his teeth, swallowing down the impending breakdown with aggressive force. He would not fall apart. Not out here. Not where it would draw the attention of anyone else who happened to wander by. 

He purposefully directed his attention to the coffee pot on the table.

_ keep it together _

Grabbing a waxy paper cup from the stack, he filled it, relishing the mild burn in his hand that he felt through the cup. It gave him a focal point. 

_ keep it together _

There was a slight rise in the volume of the nurses further down the hallway behind him. He ignored the noise, frowning as he sipped the steaming hot liquid. At least, he ignored the noise until he heard a quick-paced shuffling of footsteps approaching. 

“Sans?” 

He turned, a little surprised at being pulled from his thoughts. It was the same nurse that had spoken kindly to him a couple of nights ago. She was really the only nurse Sans liked enough to converse with, and he had been quick to stop her from calling him ‘sir’ all the time. 

“yeah?”  He was feeling nervous now. What was that expression on her face?

“I think you should come back to the room.”  She paused, and for a terror-filled moment, he feared the worst. Then she smiled a little and finished, “It looks like he’s waking up.” 

Coffee splashed all across the hallway floor as the cup hit the ground after slipping out of his hand. Sans couldn’t give a damn about the mess, though. He was already running.

  
  
  
  


The same heavy fog weighing on Papyrus’ mind was back again, and he floated through it, trying to gain clarity to his thoughts. Never before had he felt so incapable of  _ waking up _ . If anything, he had difficulty falling asleep at night, so this level of grogginess was a very new and equally frustrating sensation. 

He exhaled heavily, something between a grunt of effort and a sigh of annoyance, though likely all subconscious feelings. Just like the first time he tried to wake up, he felt so confused and delirious. He heard a thin whimper escape him, and his voice felt raspy and dry. 

“c’mon bro, hey. time to wake up, lazybones.”

Sans’ voice snagged his attention completely, veritably pulling him from the cloud of sleep. Somewhere, indignation at being called ‘lazybones’ of all things swirled with his other thoughts. Sans didn’t sound like himself, but Papyrus couldn’t quite figure out why right now. 

He managed to force his eyes open. Well, he thought so, anyway. Something was making everything a little distorted and dark. He blinked and stared blankly forward, face scrunching in discomfort. 

“heh... oh my god… he’s really awake.” 

What was that supposed to mean? He blinked again, unable to clear away the unexplained obscurity in his vision. Rolling his head slightly to the left, he saw his brother sitting in a chair and leaning closely against the edge of the bed. It was also then that he realized Sans had his hand clasped in both of his own. Instinctively, Papyrus returned the grip, feebly wrapping his fingers around his brother’s. 

“Hh--” his voice came out airy and weak again. He swallowed, and the action hurt. He recalled a terrible pain before this, and right now he hurt  _ everywhere _ , but it was more subdued to a full-body stiff ache. 

He was about to ask the first question that came to mind which was something like “what happened”. Before he even could though, his mind seemed to finally catch up with him and he fully processed Sans’ appearance. He looked more disheveled than ever, dark circles ringing his eyes. Most importantly, though, were the obvious streaks of tears on his face. 

“Are you okay?” Papyrus asked instead. He noticed how horrible he sounded. Speaking was a great effort for some reason.

Sans’ blinked, and for a moment he just stared back at Papyrus. “ _ what? _ ”  He pulled one hand away to lean his face into it, the other still tightly entwining with Papyrus’ fingers. “you’re really asking me if  _ i’m _ ok?” A shaking, tired sounding laugh followed, and Sans looked back up at him with new tears welling in his eye sockets. “s’just like you to be worried about me when you’re the one wakin’ up in a hospital, bro.”

Papyrus stared back at him for a moment, befuddlement on his face, before taking the time to look around the room. Of course he didn’t recognize it, and that may have been alarming to wake up to if Sans hadn’t been right here with him. 

“Why…?” Papyrus realized it was easier to say very little right now. His whole body felt strange in a very unpleasant way, but he didn’t know why. The blankets of the bed were pulled all the way up.

Sans rubbed his free hand over his eyes, and Papyrus could tell he was struggling to stop being emotional. He’d watched him do it countless times. Why did Sans look this haggard though? He had never seen him look this tired or stressed out. 

“you uh… you were in a car accident, bro. a really bad one,” Sans explained, a more serious tone coloring his voice. “you don’t remember any of that?”

Papyrus blinked in surprise. “An accident?” He paused a moment, trying to search his mind for recollection of such an incident. He remembered leaving work, and that he was excited to go home. He could recall driving, because his favorite song came on the radio. But beyond that, there was nothing. The void in his memory was upsetting, and it must have shown on his face, because Sans gave his hand a little reassuring squeeze. “I can’t… I don’t know what happened…”  

“hey, hey, it’s ok. don’t worry about that, it’s fine that you don’t remember. probably better, really.” 

Sans glanced away, and Papyrus could tell he was hesitating. He frowned, swallowing again to try to speak more clearly. “What is it?” 

Sans wouldn’t look at him, and after several seconds went by with no response, Papyrus was about to repeat himself. Before he could though, Sans seemed to lose the fragile control he had over himself. A choked sob forced its way out of him, and he covered his face with his hand again. 

“Sans…!” Concern took over, and Papyrus tried to move forward. The instant he did, he was stopped short by a sharp pain in his ribs, making him gasp sharply and fall back against the bed.

Sans’ head shot up and he reached out, laying his hand carefully on Papyrus’ shoulder. “no, no, bro you gotta stay still! i’m sorry, i’m just…” he paused, looking like he was having a hard time putting his words together. “i’ve been really worried, papyrus. you’ve been asleep for almost a  _ week _ . i’ve been waiting here, and i wasn’t sure if you were gonna wake up, or... or if you were just…” he trailed off again, shaking his head. 

Papyrus balked. “A  _ week? _ ” Was he serious? The idea seemed insane to him. But Sans looked like he hadn’t slept at all in about that long. Papyrus paused, and then forced a dry chuckle, his voice softening. “Nyeh heh, are you sure? You know I can’t sleep that long, Sans,” he attempted to joke, because it was really bothering him how upset Sans looked. 

It seemed to work, at least a little. Sans let out a short, surprised laugh. For a moment, his smile seemed genuine. “heh, well you… you must have been watching me lately because you got really good at it, bro.” He reached up again to wipe his eyes. 

Seeing Sans look marginally less distraught helped ease Papyrus’ nerves considerably. He reached up with his free hand to gently touch to side of his own head, groaning. “Why can’t I see very well-- oh…” he faltered, fingertips meeting with the texture of bandages that seemed to be wrapped around thick gauze over his entire right eye socket and temple. Well, no wonder everything was semi-dark. He hadn’t realized one of his eyes was covered up. 

He let out a distressed sort of noise, feeling a tremendous aching in his head just from the light pressure he had applied by touching it. 

“yeah… the doc told me your um... “ Sans pointed up to his own face around his cheekbone and eye.  “your eye socket was fractured. so it’s gotta stay wrapped up for a while, but don’t worry, ‘cause it’s gonna heal up just fine.” Sans was obviously trying to make the situation sound like is was no big deal, for Papyrus’ own sake. He was used to getting the sugar-coated explanation of things. He was also pretty sure Sans didn’t realize that he was aware of when he was being protected from worse news. 

“Mmm…” Papyrus whined, not happy with the knowledge that his head was all wrapped up. He must look so uncool right now. How embarrassing. 

Sans gave him a sympathetic glance. “hey, don’t worry, papyrus. i know what you’re thinkin’, but a few bandages is nothin’ to be ashamed of.”

Papyrus appreciated that he usually didn’t have to vocalize his worries or self-doubts. His brother always knew what to say to ease his concerns. He looked up at him with a faint attempt at a small smile. 

“Okay. Well, then what else is wrong with me. Everything is aching, Sans.” Papyrus pulled his hand back from his brother so he could move the blanket further down his body. For the first time, he realized there was a tube coming out from the front of the gown he was wearing, and he hesitated, turning his head to look up at the IV pole where a bag of fluid was hanging. The sight of it was startling, and Papyrus gently touched the tube. He stopped and turned his head back when he felt Sans’ hand on his own.

Sans had stood up from the chair, looking down at him with almost an apologetic expression. “don’t freak out. it’s connected straight into your soul. it’s just there to help keep your HP from dropping, y’know, since it’s been so much time and you haven’t been able to eat. lucky for you, you’re not the first monster this hospital’s had as a patient, so they had this stuff handy and actually knew what to do.” He rubbed the back of his neck and let out a low sigh, a gesture which Papyrus knew to be a tell that Sans’ was still avoiding something. 

Papyrus watched him carefully. This was already a lot of information to wake up to, and he was exhausted. “Sans, what is it? What else?” He felt like he might fall asleep again soon. Whatever the doctors here had been medicating him with to numb the pain was doing a pretty good job. 

Sans let out a bit of huff, a grimace tugging at the corners of his mouth. “you’re not gonna be too thrilled with the rest of this, bro. but i’ll be straight with ya. first of all, you gotta try not to move around much right now, because your ribcage is all busted up. heh, at least i know you were wearin’ your seat belt. there’s practically an imprint of the strap goin’ across you in cracks.” He joked but the chuckle sounded hollow and forced. 

Papyrus looked down at his chest again, frowning. Well, such an injury made sense. Curious, he lifted the neck of the gown to peer inside at his ribcage. The worst of it, he imagined, was hidden beneath all the bandages. Sans was right though; he could see the evidence of the diagonal line from his clavicle across to his lowest rib on the right side. He released the gown and let his head plop back onto the pillow, sighing wearily. “Oh my god,” he groaned. “Well, how long do I have to stay here? My body feels sore from top to bottom and I’m blaming at least some of that on the fact that I’ve been laying in bed for days on end. At least help me stand up..”

Sans reached out and carefully laid a hand on Papyrus’ shoulder, stopping him from making any attempt to sit upright. “bro... listen…”

“Oh come on, Sans, I’m already tired of laying---” 

“you have to stay in bed.”

He let out a somewhat fussy huff. “I just want to get up for a minute.”

“bro... both of your femurs are broken. like, really bad.”

That stopped him, and he stared at Sans in surprise. He hadn’t even realized. Everything was such an equal level of numbed down pain that his legs never particularly caught his attention. Lifting the blanket, he saw the plaster casts that started at his pelvic joint and ran the full length of his legs down to his ankles. His knees were bent slightly, and the bed was adjusted in such a way that his legs were supported as comfortably as the position allowed. 

Oh this was not okay.

He didn’t even know what to say. His mouth just hung slack in horror for a moment as he stared at his immobile legs. Turning his attention back up, he found Sans watching him with an anxious grimace, clearly bracing for his reaction. 

“ _ Sans I can’t just  _ **_lay here!_ ** ” he exclaimed with as much frantic energy as he could muster. 

“i know, i know, but listen, it’s gonna be all right.” Sans was already speaking quickly, his hands flying into a gesture as he spoke as if he could physically hold down Papyrus’ obvious distress.

“ _ How long are those going to be on me? _ ” This was the absolute worst thing Papyrus could imagine. The top it off, now that he was aware that he  _ couldn’t  _ move his legs, he was overwhelmed with a  _ need _ to. 

Sans eyes flickered away and he just kept talking quickly. “look, bro, you won’t have to stay in the hospital very long, really. uh.. they said something about probably bein’ able to discharge you pretty soon once you woke up, y’know…”

“SANS.” 

He winced and stopped his rambling, looking like he would be biting his lip nervously if that were physically possible. “uh…ok…” he exhaled heavily and looked down at him again. “the casts are gonna be there for about... eight weeks.”

“...Sans please tell me that’s a joke. You’re trying to be funny, right?”

“bro, do you know how badly i wish i were joking? trust me, no one else knows you like i do. i know you hate sitting around doin’ nothing. but... you know, is it really the worst thing? do you have any idea how bad your wreck was?” Sans rubbed his eyes as he said this, exhaling sharply. “you didn’t just like... get in a little fender bender, you know? they told me you were hit by another car almost directly head on, probably going full speed on that highway.” Papyrus watched him, falling silent. He could tell Sans was getting really upset again as he explained. 

“they said judging from the marks on the road, your car probably spun before you went straight through the guardrail and down a hill. your car  _ rolled _ , papyrus. like, at least a few times! it’s a fuckin’  _ miracle _ you’re in one god damned piece! and then it’s just been this long waiting game, with me wondering if i was gonna get to fucking  _ talk _ to you again! so just…”

“Sans…” Papyrus’ voice was soft, and he wanted to reach out to him, but Sans had moved beyond arm’s length. 

Sans stopped and sucked in a breath, looking at him again, his eyes questioning.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t mean to upset you again, and I’m sorry you’ve been stuck here just worrying all this time.” he genuinely felt bad now, thinking his reaction to his condition almost felt selfish. 

Sans moved to sit back down in the chair, exhaling slowly. “nah, bro. you got nothin’ to be sorry for. i don’t mean to lash out. it’s just… it’s been a really long week, y’know? i won’t lie to you… i was really scared. i mean… heh, don’t get me wrong. i knew you were way too cool to stay down for long.” he met his eyes again, winking, before continuing, “but you just, kinda took longer than i thought you would.” 

Papyrus nodded slowly, giving him a little smile of understanding, but then he frowned as another thought crossed his mind.  “Oh, so… my car? Is it completely ruined?”

“mm, i hate to say this but, yeah. the docs here said the ambulance crew had a hard time getting you out of it. i guess it got pretty crushed, from the sound of it.”

Papyrus couldn’t keep the disappointment off his face. “O--oh… I see…” Above all else, or maybe just because it was in combination with everything, but this news is what made him feel like he wanted to cry. That car had been a present from Sans shortly after they were freed from the Underground, and it was his pride and joy. He was always so careful with it, always making sure to be a safe driver and take good care of the car. Now it was gone, and it wasn’t even his own  _ fault _ . 

Sans saw this and automatically reached out to rub the top of Papyrus’ hand again reassuringly. “hey, i know. it really sucks. but it’s just a car and we will get you a new one. i’ve only got one brother though, so i’m just happy you made it through that.”

Papyrus nodded again. He couldn’t deny that Sans was right. Still though, the loss struck him deeply. All of this was an overwhelming amount of information to process, and he sighed, looking miserable. 

A few seconds of silence ticked by, their hands still comfortably clasped together. Sans was rubbing his thumb back and forth over the back of Papyrus’ hand and he looked like he was lost in thought. 

“so hey. now that you’re awake, we should get to go home soon. but that won’t happen tonight, for sure. and i bet you’re sick of sleepin’ right?” 

“That’s putting it mildly. I don’t know how you do it, to be honest.” Papyrus rolled his head back to the side again to look at him more comfortably. 

Sans grinned, shrugging. “i’m a professional. anyway, i grabbed something that i found in the waiting area down the hallway the other day. thought maybe you’d like it once you woke up, since i knew you’d get bored pretty quick.”

This piqued his interest. “Oh? What is it?” 

Sans only grinned wider and leaned down to grab something from the floor beside the bed where Papyrus couldn’t see. He sat up quickly again with a look of excited anticipation. 

“ta-da!” he held up a cardboard box with a picture printed on the front, and “5000 piece puzzle” in large letters in the bottom corner. He was watching Papyrus over the top edge of the box. 

Papyrus gasped loudly, his current troubles momentarily forgotten. “A PUZZLE!! WOWIE!!” 

“heh, i know right? so, you wanna help me out with it? there’s no way i could get through this on my own.” 

This made Papyrus gape is delighted surprise even more. “H-help you? You mean you’ll do it  _ with _ me? We can really do it together?”

Sans winked again, obviously more at ease now that Papyrus was in better spirits. “of course, bro! you’re the one that’s hurt, so you get full control over what we do for now.” He stood up and grabbed the swivelling table attached to the side of the bed, positioning it so that it was across Papyrus’ lap. 

Despite everything that had happened, and everything terrible that he had woken up to, Papyrus couldn’t help but smile as Sans opened the box and carefully started dumping the pieces out. With the intention of talking to the doctors about letting him go home tomorrow, the two brothers passed the remaining hours of the night studiously putting the pieces back together. 


	3. In Which the Brothers Go Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus seriously can't handle how "uncool" he feels in his current condition and is quite the little grumpy fusspot about it. Sans does his best to make things better.
> 
> (thank you all so much for the comments and kudos and support!!! sorry this one took a while to finish. Also, part 3 was originally supposed to be the last one, but now there will be a 4th part as the ending instead! Enjoy!)

It was late in the afternoon on the day after he had woken up, and Papyrus had been impatiently waiting for a chance to speak with the doctor about going home. Of course, it seemed no one else was in as big of a hurry to let him leave as he was. Around noon, he had fallen asleep again for a few hours, but awoke only feeling more restless and irritable.

At long last, and likely in part due to Sans’ persistent requests, a doctor walked into the room to talk to him. They conversed about how Papyrus felt overall and if he was experiencing any concerning memory loss, given his head injury. Soon enough, he agreed that it seemed there was little reason to keep him there, and explained the remainder of his healing would just take time. Nothing looked like it would be leaving any permanent damage behind.

Once they were alone again, Papyrus sighed heavily, feeling tired and eager to leave. Sans looked up at him and gave him a crooked smile, slouching in the chair and looking every bit as worn out as Papyrus felt. “i know. we’re almost outta here though. hang in there.”

Papyrus only responded with a weary half-smile. Just then, a nurse walked into the room and greeted them cheerfully. “Hey there! Sounds like you’re heading home today. That’s some great news! I bet you’re both pretty sick of this place, huh?” She exuded friendly energy.

Both brothers looked at her, and Papyrus answered with a rueful chuckle.. “Nyeh heh, well... I can’t say it’s been the most fun I’ve ever had.”

She laughed and walked over to the right side of his bed. “No kidding! All right, so I’m going to get this pesky IV out of you, first. You’re doing just fine now and there’s no restriction on what you can eat, so there’s no need for a tether like this getting in your way anymore.”

Papyrus appreciated this woman’s conversational warmth. It took his mind off of how otherwise miserable he felt.. “Oh, yes, thank you,” he paused, suddenly hesitant as he watched her move the blanket down away from his ribs. “Um..”

She must have sensed his apprehension because she paused and flashed him another friendly smile. “Now don’t you worry one bit. This won’t hurt, and I’ve done it a million times,” she assured him.

He remained quiet and nodded, watching her as she opened the hospital gown just over his ribcage. After just a few seconds, she had disconnected the line and needle from his soul. He barely even felt it, and the relief of that made him release the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“There now, no big deal at all, right? Now just give me a minute and I’ll go grab you a wheelchair.” She left the room in a brisk flurry.  

“Mmm…” Papyrus gripped the edge of his blanket in his hands, frowning down at his lap.

“whoa, whoa, what’s with that grumpy look?” Sans asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the edge of the bed. “heh, if goin’ home is gonna upset you so much, i could tell ‘em you’d prefer an extended stay,” he joked with a wink.

“No,” Papyrus could not contain his groan, and let out a loud huff. “It’s the wheelchair. I don’t want to have to use a wheelchair.”

Sans gave him an almost incredulous look, like he didn’t know what to say at first. “well, i hate to **_break_ ** it to ya, buddy, but with those legs, you’re not exactly fit to be running for a while.”

Papyrus groaned even louder at the pun, which only made Sans’ grin widen.

“besides, there’s really no option. i mean, i could always put skates on your feet and push you. that sound better?”

Papyrus knew Sans was trying to make him laugh, but the exhaustion of being here and how distraught he was about everything was making him more petulant and emotional. “ _No,_ but--” he began to complain, but was interrupted when the nurse returned, pushing a wheelchair in front of her.

“All right, your chariot has arrived!” she beamed enthusiastically. Papyrus idly wondered if she was this energetic all the time or if she just amped it up for the sake of patients who looked as pathetic as he knew he did.

Sans chuckled supportively, seeming to appreciate her attempts at lightening the atmosphere, and stood up. Papyrus clutched the edge of the blanket tighter, looking down with a mix of embarrassment and gloominess on his face.

“okay, let’s get you outta that bed, huh?” Papyrus only gave a small nod in response, his desire to be at home only barely outweighing his dread of the process of getting there. Sans turned to the nurse. “can i help move him?”

The nurse seemed to be surveying the logistics of transitioning Papyrus from the bed to the chair, given his immovable legs. “You know, I don’t really mind that but just to be on the safe side, let me grab another nurse to assist. An extra pair of hands never hurts! I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She darted from the room again.

Sans shrugged and looked at Papyrus. “heh, she probably thinks i wouldn’t be any help cuz you’re so much taller than me.”

Papyrus huffed a short laugh through his nose. “Maybe.”

Sans’ gave him that sympathetic look again. “look, bro, i know you’re not enjoying this. but we’ll be home and away from all these people soon. no one here is giving a second thought to how you look right now, i promise you.”

Despite Sans’ reassurances, Papyrus was feeling more embarrassed by the minute. He didn’t want more humans coming in here and moving him just because he couldn’t even do something as simple as that on his own.

He heard Sans exhale and looked over at him. Suddenly, it seemed a thought struck him, and Sans scurried over to the door to look out into the hallway, then came back just as quickly, looking a little mischievous.

“hey we got time before she gets back. how about i help get you situated and we can avoid all the awkward manhandling?” Sans was already moving the wheelchair closer and pressing the brakes on the wheels down with his foot.

“Sans, you can’t pick me up by yourself anymore,” Papyrus said matter-of-factly, not comprehending Sans’ idea.

“heh, you kiddin’? that’s a good one, bro.” Sans grinned at him as his left eye flared blue, and the same magic wreathed his left hand.

Normally Papyrus would have immediately insisted that Sans stop using magic in a place where humans might see it and possibly get alarmed. This was different though, and for some reason the fact that Sans was being sneaky for his sake made Papyrus grin, despite everything.

“Nyeh heh heh, oh I get it now.” He tossed the blanket as far off of his legs as he could and gave a thumbs up to Sans. The next moment, he felt the weight of his soul turning blue with Sans’ magic and simply allowed his brother to lift him out of the bed without any resistance. He was gently carried the short distance to the chair, then set down carefully. He grabbed onto the arm of the chair and felt the magic release his soul. Exhaling, he looked up and smiled. “Thank you, Sans. That was much better than the alternative.”

Sans walked around in front of him and shrugged. “heh, no problem, bro. you comfy?”

Papyrus rolled his eyes, tugging at the edge of his hospital gown, which was long enough to almost reach his knees, but it was catching on the rough surface of the casts. “Oh, yes, never better,” his voice dripped with sarcasm.

Just then, the nurse returned with a man following her in. “Sorry for the wait, but now-- oh!” She stopped short and looked at them with surprise.

Sans winked at her and shrugged again. “heh, yeah i took care of it for ya. he may look like a big guy but he’s all bones, really.”

Papyrus groaned again and covered his good eye with a hand. The nurse just let out a cackle of laughter at the joke. “I’ll say! All right then, well follow me. I’ll get you both some information to take home and let the pharmacy downstairs know you’ll be stopping by for his pain medicine.”

“sounds good. lead the way.” Sans kicked up the brakes on the front wheels of the chair and moved to the back, pushing Papyrus along and following the nurse out of the room.

The process of getting home was cumbersome and humiliating. At least, that’s how Papyrus felt about it the entire time. He was grateful that Sans seemed to be doing everything he could to keep the attention away from him. Sans did all the talking with the staff, handled the process of getting the medicine, calling a cab, and even chit-chatting with the driver so the man couldn’t ask any questions about Papyrus’ stay in the hospital. Papyrus didn’t want to talk about his accident to anyone, and he knew Sans could tell. He didn’t want to even be seen like this, and so he just kept his head down, fingers twisting back and forth in the hem of his gown the whole time.

They were finally home now, though, and Sans waited until the cab drove away before he wheeled Papyrus up to the house. “gonna have to lay some kinda ramp down to make this easier for a while, huh.” Sans mused as they approached the three steps leading up to their front door. “but in the meantime!” he suddenly spun Papyrus’ chair around with a sharp turn.

“Ah! Sans, be careful!” Papyrus couldn't help exclaiming, both of his hands flying to grip the armrests for a sense of stability.

“heh, what, you think i don't have this under control?” Sans chuckled as he backed up, carefully pulling the wheelchair backwards up the steps with three hard thumps. “your doubts are **_wounding_** me, bro.”

“Oh my _god!_ ” Papyrus grumbled loudly. Sans wasn't even hiding his own snickering at his joke. “Will my entire recovery be plagued with injury related puns?” he fussed as he was turned back around and wheeled inside the house.

“hmm, hard to say. my number one goal is just keeping you comfortable. i’ll even make sure that dog that hides under our sink doesn’t annoy you. in fact, i’ll **_cast_** him outside right away.”

Papyrus practically wailed in response.  “I changed my mind! Take me back to the hospital!”

Sans attempted to smother his own laughter with a hand, though it did little good. Clearly he thought his wordplay was all quite hilarious. He parked the chair in the middle of the living room and closed the front door. “sorry, bro! i’ll stop, i’ll stop. just tryin’ to get you to lighten up a little, that’s all,” he said, despite a thin chuckle still escaping with his words.

Papyrus only emitted a loud sigh in response. Sans came around in front of him and leaned on the couch, suddenly looking thoughtful. “hm…”

“What is it?”

“well, i’m uh… kinda wondering what we should do with you.” he looked quite at a loss, eyes moving from Papyrus to the flight of stairs and then around the room as if an answer would present itself.

“What do you mean? Can’t you just take me up to my room?”

“heh... um… no offense bro but when you’re in that chair, you’re actually pretty heavy.” he rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the stairs again with a sheepish expression. “it kinda makes me a little nervous to drag you up that far, y’know?”

Papyrus understood. Hauling him in a heavy metal chair up a full flight of stairs would sap his brother’s energy quickly, and the thought of being dropped and falling halfway back _down_ the stairs didn’t sound appealing at all.

“uh… i could… just set you up down here? in the living room?” he was was looking at him like he knew the idea would get shot down, but was hopeful anyway.

Papyrus stared at him blankly. “Down here.”

“uh… yeah?”

“On that lumpy nightmare of a couch.”

“um…”

“For _eight weeks?_ ”

“well, of course not! it's… technically only about seven now. ‘cuz you kinda slept the first one away...heh…”

Papyrus did not look satisfied with this in the slightest. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Absolutely not! Do you think I’m not miserable enough already? Can’t you just carry me to my room with magic like you did at the hospital?”

Sans stopped, looking as though the idea hadn’t even occurred to him. He stared off towards the stairs again in thought. After a brief moment of mulling it over, his shoulders sagged and he looked back at Papyrus, taking a seat on the arm of the couch. “uh…i’ll be honest, bro. it would be a lot easier to take care of ya if you were down here. y’know, the kitchen’s down here. the tv’s down here..”

“You just don’t want to climb the stairs more than you already have to.” Papyrus groused.

For just a flicker of a moment, Sans met Papyrus with an even, displeased look. He was too exhausted to take being hounded in good humor right now.  “well it doesn’t really make a lot of sense for you to be up there, don’t you think?” There was a hint of an irritated edge in his voice. “i mean… you’ll either be stuck in your room the whole time or i’ll have to get you up and down the stairs several times a day.”

Suddenly, Papyrus’ mood took a drastic turn from grumpy to total despair. “What difference does it make if I stay in my room the whole time!” he cried pathetically, dropping his face into his hands, careful not to put much pressure around his injured right eye. “I don’t want to go outside in this ugly chair anyway! I look stupid, and my face looks stupid all wrapped up, too!” He sniffled loudly, his voice wavering like it always did before he started to cry. “People would just laugh at me! I’m uncomfortable and can’t move, and my cool car is gone, and everything is just terrible and I hate it!”

Sans was already off the couch and coming closer, his aura of annoyance completely gone and replaced with brotherly concern.

“hey, hey now. none of that’s true, bro.” he knelt beside the wheelchair and rubbed Papyrus’ back gently. “you don’t look stupid at all. lots of people use wheelchairs and i’ve seen lots of humans with their arms and stuff in casts too. it just happens.” This didn’t seem to really help Papyrus cheer up. He only let out a muffled sound of misery into his hands.

“ok, how about this? you don’t have to be on the shitty couch. but you really _should_ be down here. so i’ll just bring your bed down here for a while. ok? it’ll be cool! i’ll get you a bunch of extra pillows and whatever you want. i’ll even sleep down here with you. kinda like a… like a slumber party!” his voice was a little hurried, like he was desperate to throw out any idea he could think of just to keep his brother from getting more upset.

Papyrus could tell Sans was trying very hard to cheer him up, and honestly the way he was pitching it made the idea sound like it could actually be fun. He sniffled again a lowered his hands, still looking pitiful. “You’ll really sleep down here with me?”

Sans brightened, standing upright again. “of course, bro! i’ll sleep on the couch so i’ll be right next to you if you need anything. you know i can sleep anywhere, heh. and i can put your bed right here in front of the tv. see, it won’t be so bad! i’ll take care of everything so you won’t have to worry.”

Papyrus rubbed the tears away from his good eye and smiled. “Nyeh heh heh. I guess so. But are you sure you’ll be able to manage doing everything while I’m stuck like this?” he seemed doubtful as he asked.

Sans on the other hand, scoffed theatrically. “paps, come on! d’you forget who raised you? you think i can’t handle a little housework and cooking for a few weeks?” He waved off the notion dismissively.

Moved by his brother’s willingness to tackle the situation with enthusiasm, Papyrus just grinned and agreed. He supposed there was a slim chance that maybe the weeks of recovering wouldn’t be so bad.


	4. In Which Papyrus Gets Comfy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first of a small series of segmented scenes that take place throughout Papyrus' recovery. I decided to break this up because the scenes themselves are all such individual ideas in my head that I didn't want to try to string them together. They're cuter if they stand alone. This is the first night following their return from the hospital. Expect more little scenes soon!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! I'm on tumblr at deetdootdiz.tumblr.com. These segments are all being posted with little sketches done by my girlfriend that I am posting there. Feel free to follow me there and check those out!

As promised, Sans had painstakingly brought Papyrus’ racecar bed downstairs. The process had clearly not been easy, given that the door to his bedroom was not directly lined up with the staircase like it had been in their house in the Underground. Sans had awkwardly maneuvered the bed using his magic, and Papyrus cringed when he heard a loud thump upstairs. “everything’s fine!” Sans had immediately shouted from down the upstairs hallway, beyond where Papyrus could see. Papyrus could only assume the corner of his bed had struck the wall, and hoped there was no terrible damage. 

Now, after all the work of setting up the bed, moving Papyrus into it from his chair, and running around the house to grab every pillow they owned, Sans was looking more than a little worn out. There were a few beads of sweat on his skull and his breathing was heavy. 

“there, how’s that?” Sans asked, squashing another pillow down behind Papyrus’ head.

Papyrus leaned back, sinking into the cushy pile. It was leagues more comfortable than he had been at the hospital, and he had to admit that being in his own bed made a huge difference. Sans had crammed a few sturdy cushions under the crook of his knees to keep the weight of the heavy casts supported, and the rest of the pillows were fluffed and piled up behind his back and head. 

“It’s actually quite comfortable! Thank you, Sans.  Are you sure you’re all right?” Sans had been waving off his concern the entire time, but Papyrus couldn’t help noticing how drained he had become. 

“quit worryin’ about me, paps. i’m fine.” Sans insisted again, though he sounded winded and was leaning heavily on the arm of the couch. 

Papyrus seriously doubted that. “You should rest now too. I’m all right. I’ve got the TV remote. I’ll survive by myself while you take a little nap.”

Sans seemed hesitant, but at the same time he couldn’t keep up his fight to stay on his feet any longer. “you sure?” he still asked, even as he moved around the couch and started to lay down on it, kicking his shoes off in the process. 

“I’m sure. Sleep. If I absolutely need something, I can wake you.”  He turned on the TV, trying to emphasize his nonchalance so Sans could feel at ease enough to stop fretting about him and get some rest.

“ok…” 

The very next instant, Papyrus heard soft snoring from the couch. He glanced over to his brother and couldn’t help but feel guilty. Clearly Sans had been pushed well and far beyond his usual limits of stamina. This was likely the first time he’d gotten more than an unsettled doze in a full week. 

Resolving to not disturb Sans for anything short of the house catching on fire, Papyrus flipped through the TV channels until he found something that looked interesting. He was sure Sans would be doing much better after a short nap. 

  
  
  
  


Sans felt something soft whack him very hard in the head. “ _ nngh… _ ” he grunted instinctively in annoyance. Was Papyrus really barging into his bedroom right now? Sans thought he’d long since made it clear that he hated when he did that. 

“SANS,  _ PLEASE. _ ”  Papyrus’ voice tore through the heavy sleep that still clung to him, sounding on the brink of sheer desperation. 

All at once, everything rushed back and his eyes shot open. “wha-?!” He shoved himself upright in a sudden panic, just barely managing to not fall off the couch completely. Wild confusion etched across his face. “papyrus, what--”

“ _ God! _ ” Papyrus wailed, sagging over the side of his bed where he’d clearly twisted for the purpose of throwing his pillow. He looked utterly distraught. 

Sans rubbed his eyes quickly, still clearing the remaining deliriousness from his head. He could tell he had been sleeping even harder than he usually did. Papyrus glared at him and Sans looked around, seeing the pillow that had struck him, and two others scattered haphazardly around the floor. 

“bro, what’s goin’ on? are you ok?” Sans asked, not fully comprehending the state of things.

“NO, I AM NOT OKAY!” Papyrus actually let out a sob of complete frustration, but rubbed his face angrily in response to it. He awkwardly pushed himself back into a more natural position, but was having to hold himself upright since all of the pillows that had been behind his back were now all over the room. “You’ve been asleep for SIX HOURS! I’ve been trying to wake you up for at least TWO of those! I need my medicine, Sans, please! I need--” 

“oh my god, paps, i’m so sorry!” Sans bolted over to him, grabbing the nearest pillow and cramming it behind Papyrus’ spine so he could lean back again, which he did. 

“How do you SLEEP that long?!” Papyrus carried on, seemingly unable to end his ranting just yet. Sans visibly cringed with guilt. He could tell his brother was more upset than just the usual nagging. “I thought you would nap for maybe an hour or two, but it’s been forever! I’m so BORED, Sans! My head hurts, and my legs are killing me!” 

Sans took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as Papyrus railed on him. “bro, i’m sorry. i really fucked that one up. hang on, let me get your medicine.” He felt like shit. How could he let himself sleep through Papyrus yelling at him to wake up for so long? Sure, he hadn’t really slept at all for a good while, and he had overexerted himself even further by using that much magic while not being well rested. But still, it didn’t matter. Papyrus had needed him and he’d blown it. 

_ i gotta do better than that until he’s on his feet again. can’t be sleeping that hard when he needs me. get it together! _

Sans rifled through the bag he had brought home from the hospital and found the painkillers. He filled a glass with water and brought it all back to Papyrus, who seemed to have blown off enough steam by now to have stopped yelling.

“i won’t let that happen again, paps. i promise i’ll take better care of you than that, ok?” Sans guilt must have been really visible on his face, because when Papyrus looked up to take the medicine, he hesitated and then let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry, Sans. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like that.” He swallowed both of the large pills together and drank nearly the whole glass of water at once. 

“no, you had the right to. i’m no help to you if i’m just bein’ my usual lazy self.” Sans went about gathering up the other pillows and stuffing them behind Papyrus’ back again. “‘s’that good?”

Papyrus nodded, finishing off his water. “Thank you.” he exhaled heavily, relaxing against them. 

Sans took the empty glass automatically and went to refill it, his mind still hung up on wanting to find a way to make it up to Papyrus. He glanced at the clock. Damn, it was the middle of the night now. Had Papyrus gotten any sleep during all that time? Sans frowned and returned, handing him the glass of water. 

“so uh… how are you feelin’ overall? i mean, it’s pretty late. are you wanting to try to get some shut-eye soon?” He saw the golden opportunity to deliver a pun about Papyrus’ eye there, but decided to spare him this time. An unspoken favor. 

Papyrus shrugged, looking more bored than sleepy. “I slept all I really needed. I’m not tired.” He almost sounded like he regretted that fact. 

“well…” Sans stopped, a brilliant idea striking him. His grin widened.  “ooh hang on, bro! i’ve got just the thing for some classic boredom relief.”  He darted upstairs before Papyrus even had a chance to say anything.

“What are you doing?” he could be heard calling loudly from the living room. Sans giggled to himself as he dug through the linen closet in the hallway, yanking out every large blanket he could find. They owned quite a few. 

“you’ll see!” Sans called back, hoisting up the tower of folded blankets. He walked over to the top of the stairs again, but couldn’t see where he was going. Instead of trying to walk down the stairs blind, he tossed the blankets over the railing and let them land below with a muffled thud, then came down the stairs quickly. 

“I still don’t know what you’re doing!” Papyrus fussed from his bed, trying to look far enough over his shoulder to see what was going on. 

In lieu of a direct answer, Sans grabbed one of the largest blankets and came up behind him, unfurling it with a grand flourish so it came down on top of him and covered him completely. A startled yelp came from under the blanket and Sans didn’t try to stifle his laughter. 

“Sans??” Papyrus insisted again, but he was already sounding more cheerful. Silly antics were often the thing Sans found worked best to put a smile back on his brother’s face when he was upset. 

Sans lifted the edge of the blanket and scooted underneath it, holding it down behind his head and grinning at Papyrus, who was holding up the weight of the fabric with his arms above his head. Papyrus had a look of dawning realization on his face. 

“heh, you thinkin’ what i’m thinkin’, paps?” Sans grin was beaming.

Papyrus’ eyes were huge with childlike joy, all earlier problems forgotten. He looked like it was his first Christmas morning. “BLANKET FORT??” he shouted.

Sans winked. “blanket fort.” 

The night rolled on as Sans went about dragging in chairs from their dining room table and draping the blankets across them, weighing down the corners on various pieces of furniture with lamps and books and whatnot. Papyrus laughed and gave input on where to stack things for the sake of adding height. Sans had brought their tallest floor lamp across the room and placed it right beside Papyrus’ bed, so the tallest point was there and kept the “roof” from drooping and falling on him. 

In the end, Sans did a pretty good job constructing the fort, considering he was doing it by himself. They hadn’t made a blanket fort like this since they were very young. Much to Papyrus’ continued delight, Sans finished it off by making them each a mug of hot cocoa and brought those, along with a bowl of popcorn, inside the fort. 

“Stories, Sans,  _ stories! _ ” Papyrus urged excitedly, taking a big sip of his cocoa. Sans had to chuckle. His idea was working perfectly. 

_ night redeemed. two points for good big bro skills.  _

“heh, whatever you want, paps. gimmie a sec.”  Sans set his mug down on the floor and carefully exited the fort, dashing upstairs to grab the best storybooks they had. Fluffy Bunny was among them, of course. He returned, getting comfortable again on the floor beside Papyrus’ bed. He spread the books out in front of him and let Papyrus take his pick. 

Hours ticked by, and Sans worked his way through every story he had readily available to read, including doing the voices. Papyrus looks positively thrilled the entire time. He finally asked for Fluffy Bunny to be read, and Sans could tell it was saved for last until he was feeling tired. After all, it was his favorite  _ bedtime _ story. 

Sans read until he looked up and saw that Papyrus was fast asleep. “whew…” he exhaled and then yawned behind his hand. He couldn’t tell what time it was since he couldn’t see the windows, but that was probably for the best. Instead of caring about that, he resituated so that he was lying on the floor with his back against the side of the bed, easily within arm’s reach for Papyrus. Pillowing his head on his arm, he started to drift off, thinking about how he would need to go out to buy some new storybooks if he hoped to keep his bedridden brother entertained for the next several weeks. 


	5. In Which Laundry is Discussed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is only trying to help. He's doing the best he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized very belatedly that I didn't post this chapter the same night that I posted it on Tumblr. My bad! I'm also sorry because it's a very very short one. I'll be posting this week's update hopefully either tonight or tomorrow though! 
> 
> Thank you ALL for all of your comments and support! It seriously means EVERYTHING to me! 
> 
> Please also feel free to follow me on Tumblr at deetdootdiz.tumblr.com. Love you guys!

Papyrus exhaled slowly, counting backwards from ten in his head. He was trying so hard to stay patient. Sans meant well, and he tried to keep telling himself that. 

_ But he was folding the laundry  _ **_all wrong!_ **

“Sans really, I don’t mind doing it…” Papyrus offered for probably the tenth time, watching Sans dig through the basket in search of a sock that matched the one he was holding. 

Giving up on the hunt, Sans chose to sloppily dump the whole basket of laundry out on the floor, seeming pleased with himself. “nope! i got this, bro.” He tossed the empty laundry basket aside. 

Papyrus just stared at the heap of clean clothes all over the very  _ not _ clean floor, in horror. “Why!” he asked vaguely, intending the question to be directed to Sans’ “methods”. 

Sans misinterpreted completely. “because i promised i’d take care of you, of course! you don’t need to stress about chores for now. ya got me here.” He sounded full of pride. It made Papyrus hate himself for being unable to just accept the help for what it was. But had Sans ever even folded laundry before? Papyrus honestly couldn’t remember. 

As if to prove this point, Sans was holding up a towel and staring at it like he’d never seen one before. Shrugging, he proceeded to  _ somewhat _ fold it over in half, and then over again, and tossed it beside him. 

“Sans, towels are folded in thirds. In  _ thirds _ .” Papyrus couldn’t help himself from blurting out, eyes transfixed on the towel.

Sans paused, one of Papyrus’ shirts in his hands, midway through practically wadding it up in an attempt to “fold” it.

“huh?”

“Ah just… nevermind.” He didn’t want to hurt Sans’ feelings, but this was torture. 

He kept watching as Sans resumed, socks getting paired with ones that only vaguely resembled each other, shirts ending up in a pile that was telling Papyrus there would be a lot of ironing in his future. 

Sans finished quickly, thanks to his lack of finesse in the work, and stood up to gather it all together so it could be put away. Papyrus was compelled to speak up again. “Sans, you know that I’m used to doing all the housework, right?”

Sans looked down at him and gave him an easy smile. “i know, which is why you get a break from all of it for now. fair’s fair, right?” 

Papyrus shrugged. “Yes, well there’s a lot I can’t do for a while, but there’s nothing wrong with my arms. And… folding laundry always has been my favorite chore to do.” This wasn’t a lie. He loved the methodical nature of the task, and how the whole chore was about creating organization. Hence why it was killing him to see the wadded up pile the laundry basket. “I would really love to still be able to do something useful. Even if it’s just that.”

Sans looked thoughtful for a second, eyes moving down the the basket in his hands. After a second, he shrugged and conceded. “heh, all right, you win, bro. laundry folding is all yours then. feel better?”

Resisting the urge to blatantly ask if he could refold the current basket, Papyrus just smiled. “Yes,  _ much _ better.”


	6. In Which Improvements Are Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans gets a brilliant idea for how to finally get Papyrus to go out in public again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo, I'm so happy i got this posted when I actually intended to! That's a personal accomplishment, let me tell ya. Thank you as always to everyone for your comments! Please come follow me on Tumblr at deetdootdiz.tumblr.com!

It didn’t take very long before a trip out of the house became a necessity. They were out of groceries, and Sans figured he couldn’t pull off serving tomato soup made of ketchup and water for dinner. They were going to have to go shopping.

“No!” 

“pap, come on. don’t be like that. it’s not a big deal. nobody’s gonna think twice about it.”

“But I will! I’m not going!”

Sans pinched his nasal bone, sighing. He had been trying to convince Papyrus to cooperatively get into his wheelchair for almost half an hour, and he was losing the fight. Honestly, it broke his heart to see his brother so upset about his appearance in the casts and bandages, but there was nothing he could do about those things.

“papyrus, you can’t stay here alone. i gotta go to the store, but if something happens while i’m gone then you’ve got no one here to help you. just get in the chair so i can get you something for dinner,  _ please. _ ” His tone was becoming exasperated. With most things, Sans didn’t bother to argue this much. This was different though. He had no choice but to dig deep and find his “big brother knows best” resolve that got him through countless bickerings when they were children. 

Papyrus raised his voice considerably. “I’M NOT GOING OUT LOOKING LIKE THIS! I LOOK  _ STUPID!” _

The sudden drastic increase in volume made Sans tense up, his patience quickly beginning to run out. Just when he was about to take the bait and actually counter his brother by matching his flare in temper, he noticed the tears brimming Papyrus’ eyes. 

_ aw, shit.  _

Sans sucked in a breath, stopping to give his next move more thought. He had to stop. This wasn’t working. He couldn’t very well force Papyrus into the chair and drag him out into public crying, furious, and humiliated. 

He turned his attention to the chair itself, silently considering the problem. 

_ oh but what if… oh my god, i got it. _

The solution was suddenly so clear to him that he was actually a little mad at himself for not thinking of it sooner. He raised his hands in a sign of surrender, relaxing his posture. “ok, bro. you win.” 

Papyrus looked surprised, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “I do? So you won’t make me go to the store with you?”

Sans pushed the wheelchair across the room where it was out of sight and flopped onto the couch, laying his feet on the coffee table. “nah. forget the store today. how’s pizza sound for dinner? nice and easy, right? no leaving necessary.” 

Papyrus seemed to relax quite substantially, Sans noticed. “Sure, I’d like that.” 

Sans figured he was probably so relieved to have just gotten his way that he didn’t care much about what they had for dinner as long as it was soon. After all, Sans hadn’t made the discovery that they were out of food until it was time to start actually making something. 

“great, i’ll call that in. why don’t you find something on tv for us to watch?” Sans gave him a reassuring smile, eager to move on and keep his brother’s mood from staying sour any longer than it had been.    
  
  


That night, Sans kept himself awake by mulling over his genius idea until he knew for certain that Papyrus had fallen asleep. Getting up from his designated sleeping spot on the floor next to the bed, he quietly tiptoed through the dark, grabbed the wheelchair, and snuck out to the garage.

  
  


“Sans, wake up…” Papyrus reached down, gently shaking him by the shoulder.

“mm-hmm…” Sans didn’t open his eyes, and his breathing immediately settled back into the steady rhythm of sleep.

“Okay, but now  _ actually _ wake up?” he gave him a slightly harder shake.

Sans’ eyes opened and he lifted his head, looking over his shoulder at Papyrus. He squinted in the morning light and covered a yawn with his hand. “mm, sorry bro. i’m up now, i’m up.” He pushed himself up to his knees and rubbed at his eyes, trying to force himself to become more alert. What Papyrus didn’t know was that he had only been asleep for a very short while. 

_ doesn’t matter, nothin’ a cup or three of coffee won’t fix. _

“how’re ya feelin’?” He gave a sleepy grin, stifling another yawn.

“I’m all right. I’ve finished this book of word search puzzles you got for me since I woke up, but now I’m hungry.” 

“wow, you finished that whole book already? pretty impressive, bro!” Sans got to his feet, stretching and cracking his spine, much to Papyrus’ disgust. 

“NYEH! Sans you know I hate that!” he wailed in an exaggerated display, flailing his hands a little as if he had touched something gross.

“heh, sorry, paps. what can i say? your reactions just  **_crack_ ** me up!” Sans’ grin stretched wider and he pointed finger guns down at his brother. The resulting loud groan was enough to make him chuckle, always proud to get a rise out of someone with his puns. 

“I didn’t wake you up to torment me with your terrible jokes!” Papyrus griped. 

“right, right, of course. guess i’d better get  **_crackin’_ ** at some breakfast.” The barely suppressed laugh could be heard just behind his words.

“SANS!!” 

“although it’d be more fun to just  **_crack_ ** these jokes all morning.” 

The book of puzzles was suddenly chucked across the room at him. Sans looked up in time to sidestep it, but he only laughed harder. Tears of mirth welled in his eyes. 

“NYEH! Stop it!!” Papyrus screeched in his pun-induced rage. 

Sans sat on the arm of the sofa, still laughing for a moment. “whew! man, if all my days could start off that funny, maybe i wouldn’t sleep in so much. that was worth waking up for.” He chuckled again and wiped his eyes. 

Papyrus was rubbing his temples, looking like he was getting a headache. “Sans…” His tone let on that there was an unspoken plea left hanging there.  Sans nodded and gave him a bit of a dismissive wave. 

“i know, i know. ok, so you want somethin’ to eat, huh?” 

“YES!” Papyrus emphasized with a dramatic flop back onto his pillow. 

Sans chuckled and stood up, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “ok, well i’d love to go whip somethin’ up for ya, but there’s next to nothin’ in that kitchen, bro.”

Papyrus rolled his head over to the side to shoot Sans a deadpan look, saying nothing.

Sans raised his browbone, feeling almost incredulous. “ _ what? _ i told you we were out of groceries last night, remember? they don’t just refill on their own.”

“I  _ know _ that.” Papyrus snapped, his one visible eye narrowing slightly before he jerked his head to the other side to face away. “It doesn’t change anything though, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

Sans rocked back on his heels casually, humming in consideration. “still hung up on the idea that you don’t look cool in your wheelchair, huh?” 

The only response Papyrus gave was to cross his arms over his chest in a huff and continue staring away from him.

“heh.” Sans couldn’t help but smirk at his brother’s childish behavior. Some things never changed. “welp…” he began, walking across the room to retrieve the wheelchair, slowly walking back to the side of the bed with it. He was excited. It looked even better now in the daylight than it had last night when he’d finished it. “i mean, i dunno, bro. take another look at it. i don’t think it looks as bad as you’ve been sayin’.” He parked the chair right beside the bed and stepped back from it to lean against the side of the couch again, hands returning to his pockets. 

Papyrus’ shoulders hunched in irritation and Sans could tell he was prepared to launch into another argument like last night. Papyrus whipped his head around angrily to glare at him. “Sans, I already TOLD you---” he cut off with a loud gasp, staring in shock at what was in front of him.

Sans watched as his brother took in the sight, and was looking quite pleased with himself, his own grin stretching wide. All of the metal of the chair was painted metallic red. The navy blue fabric of the seat, the back, and the armrests had been painted black, and the back had the addition of tall painted flames along the bottom. In large white letters, “COOL DUDE” emblazoned the majority of the space above the flames. To top it all off, a circular shape of flames had been cut out of cardboard and painted silver, then attached to the center of both wheels like spinners. All in all, it was a lot of work to cram into just a couple of hours, and Sans was feeling pretty proud of himself. 

“SANS!” Papyrus blurted after a stretch of stunned silence, clearly still reeling in surprise. He was gripping the edge of his bed and his mouth was agape, his eye huge with amazement. 

“heh, yeah bro?” Sans was watching his face, and it was all the satisfaction he could have asked for. 

“ _ SANS!! _ ” He clapped one hand over his mouth, then dropped it again. “You did this?? How did you do this??” 

Sans shrugged. “s’just paint n’ stuff. i did it last night while you were asleep. thought maybe it’d help you feel better about using it.”

“WOWIE!! It looks so cool now! Do these  _ spin? _ ” he shouted in sheer joy, stretching an arm out to the wheel and spun the flame-shaped attachment. “Sans you’ve outdone yourself!!” He reached up to the flames painted across the back and gently traced a finger along the edge of them, staring at the words there with a look of reverence. 

He chuckled, beaming with pride. It was such a relief to see Papyrus happy again, especially about the one thing he had been the most upset over. “so, about breakfast then. you wanna go show off your cool new chair on a grocery run with me?”

Papyrus smacked his hands on the top of the bed’s edge eagerly. “YES! Yes, yes!! OH I’m going to get so many compliments and people are going to stop us and say “Ooooh, wow! What a cool guy! I’ve never met anyone who looks so cool!” and they will be so impressed!! I bet I make ten new friends today!!” He was practically bouncing, and threw his blankets off of him. 

“i’m sure you will, bro.” Sans agreed, laughing a little. “you ready?” He raised his left hand to get Papyrus’ attention, the blue magic glowing from it and his left eye. 

“Yes, yes, yes!” Papyrus drummed his hands on the top of the bedside again. 

“heh heh.” Sans lifted him up with his magic and easily transitioned him into the chair. Papyrus looked happier than Sans could remember seeing him in a long while.

“How do I look?? Cool, right??” Papyrus grabbed the edge of the wheels and pushed himself around the room a little, absolutely beaming. 

Sans couldn’t have been more pleased. “heh,  _ so _ cool, paps. really.” 

Papyrus just giggled in response and kept wheeling around the room a bit. Suddenly he stopped, and one hand went up to the bandages that were still wrapped around his injured eye socket. “Oh!” Concern replaced the glee in his face and he looked at Sans. “I forgot about this! Do you think it ruins the cool look?”

Sans tilted his head to the side, bringing a hand up to drum his fingers on his chin thoughtfully. A second later, he flashed a knowing smile at him and winked. “i don’t think anything can ruin your cool look, first of all, but i know that you’re worried, so hang on.” He went to grab a black marker out of the cup of pens and pencils they kept next to the grocery list, then returned. “bear with me or a sec, ok? i’ll be super careful, i promise.” 

Papyrus leaned back in the chair, and Sans very gently drew a black eyepatch on the bandages, careful not to press hard enough to hurt. He stood back and looked at his handiwork, nodding in satisfaction. “perfect.” 

“What’d you do? I want to see!” Papyrus looked around for something reflective.

“hang on…” Sans quickly left the room and grabbed a small mirror out the downstairs bathroom, then came back and handed it to him. 

Papyrus looked at his reflection and, to Sans’ endless delight, had another miniature glee-filled reaction. “AAH! Sans!! I look just like Undyne now!! I’m so cool, just like her!” 

Sans laughed. That was exactly what he was hoping for. “nah bro, you’re at least ten times cooler.” 

“Nyeh heh heh!  Well I can’t argue with that now!” He said proudly.

“heh, ok, let’s get outta here.” Sans grabbed the handlebars of the chair and took over the task of pushing him, grateful to be leaving with Papyrus in such a better mood. He’d have to get himself a strong coffee on the way to the grocery store, still feeling the lack of sleep weighing him down, but it was worth it.


End file.
